A study on the probability of twin plane formation during the nucleation of AgBr and AgCl crystals in the aqueous gelatin solution

Abstract

A study was made on the probability of twin plane formation during the nucleation of AgBr and AgCl crystals. The growth condition was controlled to keep the number of the nuclei, neither decreasing owing to their dissolution, nor increasing owing to the formation of a new nucleus during the growth process. Under the condition, the nuclei were grown to have {1 1 1} faces on their surfaces by controlling pAg in a reaction solution and by use of growth modifier in case of AgCl crystal formation. The number of twin planes in each crystal was judged according to a conventional way on the basis of its morphology. The dependence of the number of twin planes per crystal on the probability of twin plain formation was in accordance with Poisson distribution, indicating the random formation of a twin plane on the {1 1 1} faces of a nucleus. The result that the ratio of number of AgCl crystals with parallel twin planes to all the multiply twinned crystals was about 10% supports the random formation of a twin plane and suggests that the twin plane formation took place on {1 1 1} surfaces at the possible eight corner of a nucleus. On the other hand, the ratio of the number of AgBr crystals with parallel twin planes to all the multiply twinned crystals was more than 50%. The result was explained by the anisotropic growth of a singly twinned nucleus according to the higher growth rate of {1 0 0} surfaces than that of {1 1 1} surfaces.